Thursday, and the storm approaches

You know, every morning before I leave I check to see if the crocuses in my front garden are up. (Come on, Spring!) But, nothing! Well, today while I was watching the news on Channel 4, the weather man said his tulips were up! So, I checked again for my crocus (nothing) then I took the time to walk over to where the daffodils are, and found they are up about six inches! I can only assume one of two things: either the warm weather a while back made the crocuses grow, then the next cold snap killed them; or the squirrels ate the bulbs.

Speaking of the missing Spring, it rained off and on most of the day, but by the time I left work for home, it had turned to snow. We have had a revision of this morning's forecast. It was supposed to be 1-3 inches of slushy snow. Now it's a Winter Snow Advisory and the prediction is 3-6 inches of snow!

When I got home I was in the office when I noticed that "somebody" had chewed completely though my extra long phone cord! Damn Caley!!! I wish she would try and chew through one of the 110 volt cords to my lamps or something! I posted the photos so you can see what I mean.

I got a call from from my son Jeremy. He's giving a major presentation for his company down in Florida the first part of April. So, he's planning on flying down to Raleigh, North Carolina with Riese, leaving here with Sadie and Luanne while he goes to Florida and then picking her back up on the way back. This will be her first airplane ride, so she's pumped! He also warned me she will be calling tonight and letting me know how much I owe for her March of Dimes book reading campaign.

I have been really thinking about summer barbeque. So, in lieu of using my grille, I'll use my slow cooker for Friday night's dinner (and weekend snacks). A guy at work told me a couple years ago his wife just puts chicken in her crock pot and a jar of barbeque sauce, lets it cook for 8 hours on low and it's perfect. I admit I was skeptical, but as luck would have it, I came across that very recipe online. So, tonight I am thawing out two packs of bone-in chicken thighs and will assemble it all in the morning.

Also regarding summer grilling, I remembered how before the season starts, I want to deep clean my cast iron grill grates. Unfortunately, I must have been out in the garage messing with my grill when Riese called. But she did leave a message! I either owe $30 or $34, so I'll send $34 just to be safe!

Anyway, I got the grates and put them in the oven, along with my stove top grille pan, locked the door and turned the oven to "Clean". It's a 4 1/2 hour process and somewhere in there, my smoke alarms went off. So, I turned the vent on high, opened my bedroom window a crack, disconnected both smoke alarms and turned on both the bedroom and kitchen fans. It was quite an acrid smell, BTW. But, in the morning, I should have clean, albeit white powder-covered, cast iron.

I watched a taped show, but called it an early night and went to sleep around 9:00 PM (after reconnecting the smoke alarms).